Toward a characterization of the philosophical and pedagogical anthropology of P. D. Yurkevich

The article is devoted to the philosophical and pedagogical anthropology of one of the largest representatives of the Kiev school of theological and academic philosophy, P. D. Yurkevich. It is shown that Yurkevich positioned pedagogy as a practical philosophy, designed to indicate ways to promote education and reveal the moral and ethical principle in a person. Starting from the Orthodox teaching on asceticism, he interpreted the term “education” in the sense of nourishing the body with the spirit, spiritualization. On the basis of the “metaphysics of the heart” and “metaphysics of love” previously developed by him, the scholar created a kind of “pedagogy of a loving heart”, aimed at the formation of a harmoniously developed personality. With the help of a deep analysis of the phenomenon of the heart in his philosophical and pedagogical anthropology, Yurkevich elevated pedagogical knowledge from particular questions to the level of a holistic worldview. In modern conditions of the development of the information society, Yurkevich’s thesis deserves special attention that the information received by a person has a direct impact on his will and character, why the student needs to be given knowledge only about what is worthy of knowledge. According to the authors of the article, an appeal to the legacy of an outstanding philosopher can help in the process of establishing a national education system in Russia.